Memorial Day run and fun!

We are ready to head for the parade!

We made it home, sweaty but proud!

The annual Memorial Day parade in downtown Brighton last 10 minutes! No kidding! The veterans go first, then the high school band,then the girl scouts and boy scouts. Then the police car signifying the end. Done! The route is 5 blocks, from the high school east to the millpond, where we sing the national anthem(done this year,beautifully, by Mr. Brady!) here speeches by a couple of veterans, and say a prayer together for the country. It is very nice but super short. This year, in order to jazz things up I decide that Molly and I will run downtown and Charlotte and Danny can ride their bikes...a good idea last week when the temps were in the 40's and our heat was kicking on...not so much today when it was 93. seriously. Spring was one day long I guess! Anyway we made it! and it was fun, and I felt virtuous all day long.  Worked all day again, thankfully stopping at one o'clock for a couple of hours to enjoy steaks,etc. with Shawne and the kids.  then back to work.  at 4:30ish we decide suddenly to have Jerry take the kids to see Kung Fu Panda 2, in 3D no less!
I take a break inside while they are gone, then continue a while longer...we are trying to get all the work from every weekend in April and May where it was rainy and cold and we couldn't go outside done in 3 days.! Will it work??  I'll let you know!

Sunday 5/29 Sunday no day of rest!

Well this was no day of rest for our family, but I think GOD is willing to let us go on this one! We started the day at 8 o'clock mass and a nice family breakfast at Leos. The staff was happy to see us and a couple of the gals came over to tell us they had seen the commercial. Small town life is very nice! Then we all went to Home Depot for mulch, plants,etc. and then home to start working. We weeded,mulched,cut down trees, planted flowers, built a fire pit, you name it! and just when we were ready to relax by sending Jer and Danny to the golf course, the sky's opened up again! Rain,thunder,lightening, even a tornado siren, which sent us hurrying to the basement. Will it ever dry out?!!

Tiptoe throught the Raindrops!

Well no matter what, whenever it isn't sprinkling we are in the yard! I bag out of the family track workout to go table shopping(sorry wobbly dupa!)  Molly and Charlotte have a great workout with PJ, and Danny runs into his classmate Will and his Dad, and he ends up doing football drills with them.
I got a great table for the deck at Meijer, and stacking sling chairs so when it rains I do not have to run around pulling cushions off and throwing them in the garage!
That was the easy part, then it is the hard yard work.  Raking, trimming hedges, hauling paving block for our new firepit.,,watching others work on Curb Appeal the Block is so much easier!  Happily it starts to rain again, so we can take a forced break...sadly Tigers rained out, they double up tomrw.

No Mother Goose! Is it still Friday?

So weird not to be working, but I managed to survive.  I spent most of the day dealing with the fall-out from my jerky ticketing service and the issue that cropped up. I though I had all the flights set yesterday,and at a good price. Then I get an email from David-the agent, saying that the credit card didn't go through, but not to worry, we can square it away today. So Jerry lets citibank know to send the charges though, I email David at 7am to say it's all set, and he calls me and tells me that the prices went up over night! WHAT! Needless to say I was extremely upset, and spent many hours on line trying to see if I could find anything better, but indeed the rates had gone up. If he had told me there might be a rate hike overnight, we could have called citibank last night! Anyway, 700$ more later, all tickets are booked. And truthfully, it is still better than it was 1 month ago, and much better than 3 months ago, but really...
So trying to shake it off and just be excited about the trip. Danny and I are going to Rome on 7/6 when Jerry and Charlotte head home, and staying a week to explore on our own!

Thursday 5/26 LEAH!

Charlotte is off from school this whole week, and we invited Leah over to play. She and Charlotte had lots of fun playing doll house, watching a movie together and colouring and playing Candyland. Biggest blast was making home made play doh! I hadn't done that in a long time! Charlotte enjoyed it alot, I think she had fun with the smooshing and stirring!

wednesday 5/25 Lansing in the rain....

Oh, for heaven's sake! Another trip to Lansing in the pouring rain, and another cancellation! This time Molly got to go out to lunch with Kim and the fund raising guy Matt. We went to a snazzy restaurant(the kind with a thimble of soup and 3 leaf salad is $12!) But the company was awesome, and I picked Matt's brain for fundraising ideas. His previous career was as a political fundraiser, he worked on Hillary Clinton's pres, campaign.

A soaked Molly after we ran 3 blocks in the pouring rain to reach the car after our lunch!

Also had a great and informative meeting at Molly's school and a booster club meeting in the evening.  I am meetinged out!

Golf outing speech!

Oh Molly rocked her speech, as a guest of Michelle and Jerry Snyder's annual Golf Outing at the Lakelands Golf Club. Everyone loved her, just like last year, and they all applauded with every cue card. Gonna try to upload the video on here, but we'll see...
Dropped Molly off at SO Golf out in Howell and came home to chillax and blog and launder and actually fast-forwarded through Dancing With the Stars Finale in hopes of seeing the commercial--no luck!!
But the dancing was good and Kirstie Alley didn't win, so it was all good.
Back to Lansing tomorrow to try again with the Senate :)

Monday May 23 no monday blues here!

Talking to Jer, and arranging a meet up at St. Pats for 11:30, Danny to class and Charlotte to help out in the cafe! The girls run with PJ at 6, dodging the thunder storms that are flying in and out of the area. I have my last swim practice and bring brownies and juice for my team! Coach Kathy is not going up again so I will be the had coach this year. Only 6 swimmers but it will be intensive and awesome!!

mowing the lawn!

Yay! sun shining and the cotton(i mean lawn) is high! I get to mow the front and it feels so good to sweat! It has been so dang chilly! Also went to 8am mass, and wiggled my dupa right in between Nancy and Hank and enjoyed mass.
Worked again, dead slow, but got a few things done. I am not working again until August! whoot!
Jer and the kids decide to stay up north, fish are biting like crazy! Watched the season finale of NCIS-LA while chilling with my dinner-heaven on earth(maybe the rapture did come?!)

Saturday May 21 Rapture??

OOps! I accidentally(?) read my book til I was done and it was time to go to work! Scent of Rain and Lightening---so good! So Jer and the kids head to the lake to meet up with Hank and put in the dock.  Amazing weather, warm,in the 80's! Snowed out last week, sweated out this week! Work in the pm. then Costco and Wal-mart and picture boards!

Friday May 20th

Mother Goose cafe for the first time in a couple of weeks. For the first time in a couple of weeks the sun is finally shining so my attendance is a bit light. But you know what? It just gives me more time with the kids who are there.  After class I for some reason decide to clean and sort all of the toys, what a job! But hopefully appreciated. Working with Jen so just a blast all afternoon. Found out she got the adult ref. job! Hooray!

Thursday May 19th

Life is beautiful! Nothing special, just lovin the family, the house, and not getting stressed about Greece plans!

Miss Molly goes to Lansing!!

We got a call last night and had the opportunity today to go to Lansing to appear and testify before a senate finance committee about a bill which will add a check-off box to the MI tax return.  I picked Mol up at school after her pre-school job(and my trip to the Dr./Target for RXs for uti) and we headed out to the capitol. We met up with Lois Arnold, CEO of SOMI and Kim Purdy, the head of PR, at a lobbying firm and got the lay of the land.  We then headed to the Senate building, but as e were heading up, we got word that the meeting had been postponed til next Wed.  Not as devastating as the Today show bump, but still a pain. We headed right to the capital building and hung around outside the chambers of both the house and the senate hoping to buttonhole various legislators and encourage them to support our bill. After several hours of this we were released! I will never be a lobbyist, I'm happy to check that career of my list of possibilities!  It is great to be able to be of service though!
I am proud of Molly and her good handshaking skills, she needs to work on speaking more. Photos to come!

Winter/Spring continues 5/17/11

Freezing again! I want to plant flowers!!!
As you all know by now Tuesday is drive day, so that's what I do...Drive! Pick up Shawne and Leah at the library and bring them home here to hang out and visit. They are borrowing the car for a few days while theirs is in the shop.  Leah has changed her name to Aryna (pronounced areena!) and won't respond to anything else. It was hilarious! I mailed her a card yesterday aft. addressed with her new name, and I bet she'll flip out!
Jerry and the kids headed out to SO Golf, opening night, and they had a blast, I never could have gone in that cold! Danny is partnering with Charlotte this year and Jerry and Molly will tackle the course together.   While they were gone I had a lovely call with my old roomie and chum Maureen Scanlon. She and her family had seen the commercial and the ad and were so happy. It was great to catch up with her. Now I must call Karen and Fran and Lorrie...not that I feel guilty or anything!

Monday May 16th staying put?!

Well no word from the PR folks, so I guess it's another boring week in Michigan! Except that could the weather warm up? We are all taking mittens when we go out, and turning the heat on in the late afternoon. When combined with the non-stop gray skies and rain...well don't you feel springy??!!
Walked on the treadmill,shopped a bit, cleaned a bit, finished my book club book, and coached swimming. It was a good day!

May 15th?? Why is it 39 degrees out?!!

Today was our big day at the Lansing Lugnuts game..I pictured us sitting in the stands with sunscreen on, feeling summer making it's way into Michigan..alas this was not to be! It basically poured all day long, with 30 mile an hour winds, not weather that makes you think baseball! We headed out to the stadium, played catch out in right field in the rain, then huddled under the overhang, with the 113 other crazy people, including PJ and the kids, waiting to see if it would let up.  At 3:00pm they called the game, and we happily headed home! I threw together pizza and chili and we shared a nice time with our friends which made the day very pleasant. Enjoyed a nice chat with Sooz and Mom, and watched some Lucy with Danny and Charlotte, and even had time to show Danny the first episode of Mr. Ed! A good day!

Stroll around Town Fun-raiser 5/14/11

Well, GOD is good and the rain held off for the libraries first annual stroller walk to raise money.. not a huge attendance, but alot of enthusiasm! I led dancing and warm-up for about 30 minutes, then we all stepped off. The girls were able to come to the whole walk because track was cancelled due to wet surfaces. They walked with Anne,Lila, and Emma(then went home with them for a play session) and had fun! We were trying to get people to honk, and basically I spent my time trying to keep the fun alive! We then decorated the dept. for summer reading til 2pm.  Headed home, then up to Schwartz Creek for Kathy's Mom's wake. I went around dinner time, which seemed good. I was able o hang out and visit with Kathy and her sister's for about an hour, and I was really happy that I went.  Got some grocery shopping done after that. Wow, my Saturday nights are wild!
Tiger's won :) Yankees lost ;(  Jerry and Danny watched LOTR and I vegged with HGTV.

Friday the 13th....oooooo!

Not superstitious and no bad luck comes my way, so there!
I worked from 9-5, sliding out to pick up Danny at 3:30 and bring him back to the library. It is super convenient! When I get home Shawne does call me and is up for a movie...it is about 80 degrees, and so I choose to go veg. in the cool darkness. We went to see Bridesmaids(on Roseanna's recommendation) and it was FILTHY! Funny in alot of parts, super gross in others, but a good way to pass the time...Torrential rainstorms when we come out, complete with thunder and lightening, which continues all night long....

Thursday 5/12/11

What did I do today? Ah, the age old question! I have to stop being overwhelmed by the work load and just get busy with something!
Jerry is home, but heads  straight from the airport to the play awards dinner, to the talk on "how to attract bluebirds to your yard" Go Jer!
The dinner was fun, the students gave every kid a funny certificate, Danny got, and Charlotte got.
When talking about seniors, the directors forgot to mention Charlotte, no surprise there. But you know what? the fact that she got to be in the play, and that the kids were kind to her was all we could have hoped for. It was a success!

Humping along! 5/11/11

So after I drop off D-man at school I read to St. Pats and spend some time with the LORD Jesus Christ. It is so peaceful in the chapter.  When I am walking in to Ashley Court I see the activity director, Denise, and she says, "Oh, you are here!" Ummm, where else would I be? But it turns out that they were expecting Linda, who called in sick with a bad back.. GOD is good! It was the road to Emmaus reading, and we talked about following the LORD even when it is easier not to.

No library today, So I get alot done before pick up.

Tuesday May 10th Ryan's Birthday!

Well it's Ryan Arbor's "Golden Birthday"! Yay! May his year be happy and blessed! Danny and a couple of pals joined Ry and his family for a burger at Red Robin and a movie, on a school night! But how could you say no to that?
Small book club tonight, and we discuss Cliff Walk, an autobiography written by a male college prof. who lost his job and ended up a carpenter. I liked the book, as did the other gals, but our final analysis was that the guy was too whiny and the wife was too understanding! We decided we would have been yelling "Get back to work! Take a job, any job!!" for sure after the first 6 months!  Next up is
Moloka'i by Alan Brennet, set in the 1800's when it was a leper colony. This was Karen's pick and so far it's great!

Monday May 9th living the lazy life!

Okay- it's time to get busy! Jer off to Delaware, so I'm hoping to accomplish alot.  Sadly no! I manage to fritter away the whole day! I laundered,cleaned some bathrooms, made dinner, but not alot else! I guess not driving to Indiana and then thinking about NYC trip was nice and relaxing...maybe too much so! Oh, I did run 4 miles BY MYSELF! not that I don't love running with the kids, but it was nice to be alone with my thoughts, and gasping breath!

Sunday Mother's Day!

Best way to start Mother's Day? MASS! I love when the Mom's get to stand up and get a blessing from the parish, Molly and Jerry both blessed me.  Then we got a NY Times for me (still trying to read it!) and headed home. Jer and Molly and Danny zoomed off to a lacrosse game and Charlotte and I stayed home. I went over to help out at the BCPA, setting up for the last performance of the play.
Jer flys in with the kids for the call,  and by 4:30 we are in our seats and being entertained! A fantastic last show, and I get all teary eyed talking to Mr. Brady, and telling him that he did a great thing by giving Charlotte a chance to be in Birdie!
We have a nice mom's day meal at Leo's then chill at home!

Saturday May 7th Fly away home!

Well we're off! Back to MI! Donnie shot us over to La Guardia with no problem and we had plenty of time to relax. Ironically this was the first time in a bunch of flights that we quickly got through security, and the gate was literally 100 yards away! No elevators,escalators,trams or moving sidewalks! They did have little tables with electricity  so i plugged in my laptop and finally beat the level of Bubbletown that had been eluding me for weeks!
We arrived home in plenty of time to get ready for the play, Molly and I both ushered and saw the show. Danny keeps looking better and better, and I was able to spot waldo, oops, i mean Charlotte, from my perch in the balcony! When they sing ByeBye birdie song after the curtain call, Charlotte's face looks like a firecracker bursting!  She did so well and we are so proud!

Friday May 6th aaahh! Jersey!

What a treat to wake up in NJ! Molly and I go for run around Lenard way and push out around 3.2 miles. We treat Molly to a tasty coffee at our favourite DD and then off to quiz kids! It is hilarious! Chrissy's team does ok, we are most entertained by the fact that no one gets the answer to "name 3 of the 4 Beatles!" I guess we are getting old!
We sneak in a bit of shopping(shoes!!) and then spend the beautiful summery afternoon sitting on the deck eating panini sandwiches with Birge, Donnie and Catherine, arguing about Polish national catholic church and other important facts of life! Then off to Jamie's BBall game at PHS, followed by a movie with Liza (like water for elephants!) and Susan!
A great day!

most stressful day in recent memory!

As of 8:30 this morning  I thought our trip to New York was cancelled. And looking back on it from the end of this LONG day, I wish it had been.  Got back from taking Danny and there was still no email. I tell Molly the trip is off, and she becomes hysterical. She had gotten up at 6:30, showered and gotten all ready. I tried to calm her down, but I was so mad at that agency. At 9;15 I get an email,followed by a phone call, she thought we'd be on the 10 am flight! I read her back her email from yesterday at 1pm saying the itinerary and details would follow "later today".  I will leave now, I say, and run like a nut for 5 minutes putting everything in the van, leaving the traverse for jer. Drive like a crazy girl, circle to level 10 in the parking deck, stop the car, and realize////my wallet is in the traverse from driving D to school. I start screaming F___! over and over, this has never happened to me. Now what?!  I call my friend Kim and ask her to go to the house, get my wallet out of the car and drive it to the airport...and God love her, she agrees! Molly and I check in, then I start pacing.  She makes it, and I grab the wallet and get on the security line...it's long...ans the flight is at 12 ..it's 11:35...we get through, take the elevator down, run across the promenade, take the escalator up to the tram and wait...tick,tick,tick.Hop on the tram, head down the escalator(did I mention that I have all the luggage cause molly can't do escalators?!) I literally count 3,2,1, GO as we hit the bottom, and tell molly to run pellmell to gate 77 (and yes, it was the very last one) and they let us on. Sweet relief!
The flight attendant gives us water even though we aren't in first class, that's how bad we look!
Molly gets to her seat, but I am stowing luggage, and when a man trys to sit down next to her, she bursts into hysterical tears! needless to say the man MOVED AWAY quickly, but the poor thing! She was a wreck ,picking up on all my anxiety. This is not the way I roll.
Flight is good, and since of course I told them who "the talent" was and showed them the ad, they have the pilot make an announcement  that there is a celebrity on board and we should all applaud! I made her do a princess wave!
So car is there and in spite of the rain, I jolly her into excitement. When we arrive at the hotel they tell me they only have me booked for one night..which would have been fine if the agency had let me know, instead it is a surprise, now what do I do til Saturday? But I decide to go upstairs and see the room and drop our luggage, then decide what to do. No sooner do I walk in the room than I get a call from Tracey at SO North America saying that we are bumped from the Today show because of President Obama;s trip to Ground Zero--Seriously?! I hang up from her and I get a call from school that Danny didn't get picked up to go to play rehearsal. Well I'm in NY and Jer is in Ohio-now what?! The secretary offers to drive him to the high school and I say sure! At this point I can't even think what to do!
Molly is laying on the bed crying about the today show so Hey, lets go to the fitness place I cry, hoping to get her going again.
We have a nice workout, and a great call from Sooz (who has talked to Donnie) and we will head for NJ tomrw after the interviews and hang out and Donnie will take us to the airport on Sat, Sooz encourages me to take Molly down to time square, and the rain has let up, so off we go! We hit the American Girl store, Disney, M&M's, etc. But you know what? this isn't Molly's thing I realize. To much pushing noise, uncertainty, she is a wreck We hold chilly hands on the way back to the hotel.
Plan is PJ's, room service, and the Yankees/Tigers game.  But guess whet? No Yankee channel in the room, only in the bar. Why aren't I surprised? So down we go, molly in pj pants, and we rearrange a little corner, have the bartender turn up the volume, order pizza and sald and relax. RELAX!
I am so glad this day is over! We start at 6:30 tomrw!

Monday May 2 Indiana here I come!

Off to Indiana to drop off Mom with the Bickelhaupts! I have to drive about 200 miles in each direction, but that's okay! I'm glad that she will get a chance to spend time with Mary and Chuck. We arrive at the drop off spot, McDonalds, right on time.....no Bics. Wait 10 minutes then call their cell..."oh sorry, we forgot about the time change! We're an hour away." Seriously?? Okay, so after a short fight with Mom, we settle down to wait. One hour and 20 minutes later, Mrs.B calls and directs me to drive further west down the highway to meet them, they are getting gas. Okay! Finally drop her off, all the while pretending that it is no big deal, because I don't want to her to be upset.  But what a pain! I was hauling dupa to try to get back in time to pick up D-man. Phone rings and it is Tracey from SOI asking if Molly and I are free to fly to NYC on WEDNESDAY to be on the Today show on Thursday. Hmmm, am I free? DUH!
Needless to say this woke me up enough to finish the trip! 
Girlies go running, danny has LAX and I am off to swim practice. We had a great practice and I took my camera and got some shots of the team. I wish we had a meet before state games, but maybe next year.

Danny on the altar and the stage!

We had the extreme pleasure of watching Danny serve the altar for the first time today! He had to handle the incense burner, which is a challenging assignment! Mom seemed very pleased to be able to witness this. Coffee and donuts were served downstairs, so we got to go and visit with our friends a bit. There were quite a few comments about Molly and I being in the paper, which was embarrassing but neat!
I had a nice luncheon and we went to the 4:30 show of the play. IT WAS FANTASTIC! What an unbelievable show! We all enjoyed Apple pie and ice cream back at the house afterwards, then Danny headed home with the Arbors so that he could get to school on time while I drive Mom to meet the Bics.
Jer is heading down to Dublin for Ashland Peer review til Thursday, but that is fine, I am craving a bit of peace!

Saturday April 30th Back to MI

The essence of COOL?? Rollin up to track practice in a Lincoln Towne Car!  The way the flight time worked, I had our driver drop us off at the high school so we wouldn't miss practice...we were quite a scene! PJ made a nice announcement about the TV ad, the brandsaver, etc. and Mol was so proud.
The funny thing is, she is just as excited to go to the play tonight as she was to throw out the first pitch!
I enjoyed re-entry, hung out with Mom, took a walk, visited, etc. I know Jer was happy to have me back!

Friday in Cincinnati 4/29/11

Molly was SOOO tired this morning! I got up and snuck out to the gym and tuned in to the royal wedding. Saw the kiss and the dress, what more do you need?  Mol roused at 10:30 and we watched royal wedding while we got ready for the day.  She seemed to really enjoy the hats and dresses. Now that I know where the Dunkin Donuts is we shoot right over, and then walk around the city. We cruise through gardens, fountains, horses and policemen, the beautiful church of St. Louis, the public library with a great high school art exhibit(talented kids!) and the Contemporary Art Museum lobby (closing for a lunch event!)
Met Jesse at 1pm at Skyline Chili,  a Cinci institution! Molly had the 3 way, which is spaghetti topped with chili,topped with cheese! We had mad games of UNO and Molly won 5 to our 1! hilarious! Jesse took a photo of the score to email the rest of the LA gang back in Portland. Then he took us to the Reds shop at the stadium and outfitted us for the game as a gift! Molly got a shirt, real game jersey and socks and a hat and I got a jersey and a sweatshirt. WOW! Molly is ten shades of excited!
Chill at the hotel, apply the REDS nail polish, get suited up, and head to  The Great American Ballpark at 5:30 with Jim. What a site! The place is visually gorgeous, red seats, a steam boat in the outfield, the mighty Ohio river flowing beyond that. Up we go in the private elevator to the Suite floor and down to the Procter and Gamble Suite! WWOOWW!  It is right behind home plate, decorated with P&G photos and has indoor and outdoor space. The food they served was a Taste of Cincinnati, with chili, ribs,pizza,etc. Molly was in heaven!
We were escorted on to the filed and met all the mascots and team VIP's. as we were hanging out, Jay Bruce goes jogging onto the filed for warm-ups and says, Oh Hi Molly! in this excited voice! Then he came over afterward for pictures and hugs for Molly. So Cool!
The pitch itself went a bit wide, I did my best to catch it, but no luck. We told her it was better with dirt on the ball anyway.  Back to the suite for the game, Reds lost 7=6 but it was a blast. I got to meet and talk to so many nice people. We were the only SO folks there.
Back to the hotel after 11, and we have a 5am wake-up call.....